Top 7 leadership assessment tests to hire the best talent

Leaders are essentially the framework of any organization. They represent different business units within and outside the company while ensuring that their teams always deliver superb results. Hence, the success of any company depends on how effective its leaders are.

The process of recruiting leaders for your teams is a delicate one that could determine where your company will be in the near future. Whoever fills any leadership role must be skilled in overseeing projects, managing people, and communicating effectively with others.

So, as you recruit leaders for your organization, it is paramount that you evaluate candidates for essential leadership skills they need to be productive and efficient. But how do you assess these candidates to ensure you only recruit the best talent?

This article covers everything you need to know about leadership assessments and why they are so important. We’ll also consider the best seven leadership assessment tests that can help you identify your most talented candidates and make the right choice in your recruitment.

What is a leadership assessment test?

A leadership assessment is a test or series of tests you can use to check how well a person can manage teams and lead effectively. Leadership assessments allow candidates to show their leadership skills by solving scenario-based problems within a stipulated time.

Basically, leadership assessments evaluate candidates’:

• Personalities and behavior

• Reactions to different situations and circumstances

• Situational judgment

• Critical thinking capabilities

A good leadership assessment test focuses on evaluating how well a particular candidate would perform if offered a leadership position. As such, leadership assessments are recommended when recruiting team leaders or supervisors.

You can use different tests to examine candidates for leadership skills such as communication and business judgment. For this reason, it’s important to know the skills you’re looking for before administering tests to candidates.

Why are leadership assessment tests important?

We live in a fast-moving world where time is one of the most valuable assets for a business. Automated leadership assessments enable you to evaluate many candidates at once, saving valuable time and resources.

Additionally, leadership assessments help you identify candidates with the skills your company needs, unlike CVs, which are unreliable proof of skill. Hence, leadership assessments help you gauge the abilities of each candidate.

With over 85,000 production team leaders hired in the United States alone, it is evident that the demand for competent managers is at its peak. A leadership assessment test allows you to beat this demand and identify talent quickly and efficiently.

Using a leadership assessment ultimately helps bolster your company’s success because it enables you to quickly identify goal-driven candidates who can reach and exceed your company’s goals.

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Top 7 leadership assessment tests to hire the best talent

Testing your candidates for leadership skills can be tasking, especially if you don’t know what to look for or what tests to administer. Below, we will describe the top seven leadership assessments that can help you hire the best leaders:

1. DISC test

The DISC test is a test that companies use to identify their candidates’ personality types. According to the test’s principles, there are four main personality types; Dominance (D), Influence (I), steadiness (S), and conscientiousness (C).

With the DISC assessment, you can predict how candidates would act in different scenarios, which is an excellent way to evaluate their suitability for a leadership role. The test allows you to hire candidates with the right personality and mindset for the job.

2. The 16 types test

The 16 types test is a personality questionnaire that provides insight into applicants’ personality types. It measures them against four types (on a spectrum) to identify the specific personality of the candidate. 

With this test, you can understand each candidate better and gauge how effective they would be at work under different conditions. 

3. Enneagram test

The Enneagram test evaluates candidates according to a personality model consisting of nine distinct personalities. Following the teachings of O. Ichazo and C. Naranjo, this test provides insight into candidates’ mindsets and how they would act as leaders.

Companies trust the Enneagram test to help them identify potential leaders because the test helps them identify those with a growth mindset who are result-oriented and would work to build their teams.

4. Leadership and People Management test

TestGorilla’s Leadership and People Management test is a 10-minute test that lets you see how well each candidate can lead a team. This test focuses on evaluating whether candidates are capable of leading others using real-life scenarios.

With this test, you can better understand each candidate’s capacity to influence and guide their teams to ensure they function efficiently and produce excellent results.

5. Big 5 test

The Big 5 (OCEAN) test is a personality assessment that helps you understand the candidate’s personality and mindset. With it, you can easily spot candidates who have strong leadership skills.

This test uses the five-factor model theory that classifies personalities based on five different characteristics: Openness (O), Conscientiousness (C), Extroversion (E), Agreeableness (A), and Neuroticism (N) (i.e. emotional stability). 

While the Big 5 test doesn’t directly predict job performance, it helps you see whether a candidate is suitable for a specific role based on your requirements for it. 

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6. Communication skills test

Strong communication skills are one of the key factors that determine how well a leader would perform in their position. To manage a team well, it is crucial that the leaders are good communicators, so that they can transmit information to team members and share and discuss ideas with them.

A well-developed Communication test assesses how well candidates can express their ideas to a second party, gain information from that party, and effectively communicate using spoken and written words.

7. Business judgment skills test

Being a leader essentially means making decisions about the team and its projects. Thus, before recruiting leaders for your company, you must make sure they have excellent business judgment skills. 

A Business Judgment test helps you identify those who can provide solutions to even the trickiest problems without incurring any damages or losses for the team or the company.

With this test, you can sort through applicants and find those who have a good eye for value and can strike bargains in your company’s favor.

The solution to all your pre-recruitment testing needs

Trusting CVs to point you toward great leaders for your company comes with a high risk, especially since a large number of candidates who apply for a job lie on their resumes (between 10 and 78% according to various studies, depending on the methodology). 

On the other hand, a pre-recruitment test gives candidates an even playing field to prove they can be effective.

If you’re looking for exceptional leaders for your company, pre-recruitment tests are the way to go, and TestGorilla offers hundreds of them. From communication skills to business judgment, we have the perfect test for all your recruitment needs.

Our library features many scientifically validated tests to assess candidates’ leadership skills and personalities to help you recruit the best person for the job. Sign up for free with us today to get started.